Missing: anxious family members look at the site of the accident (Picture: Reuters)

The captain of the ferry that sank off South Korea, killing up to 296 people, told victims’ families today: “I am sorry.”

A huge search for 287 passengers still missing more than 24 hours after the disaster is being hampered by strong currents and poor visibility.

So far 179 out of the 475 aboard have been rescued. The ferry was carrying 325 pupils on a school trip and the nine confirmed dead include four 17-year-old students and a teacher aged 25.

Dozens more passengers were injured and the death toll is expected to soar, as those still missing are believed to have been trapped inside the ferry as it rolled over in cold seas yesterday.

Only part of the vessel, which had been travelling from the South Korean port of Incheon to the resort island of Jeju, is visible above the sea’s surface. Its captain Lee Joon Suk said at a coastguard station today: “I am really sorry and deeply ashamed.”

He was being questioned by officials and faces possible charges of negligence and accidental homicide.

The South Korean president Park Guen-hye visited the disaster site today and pleaded with search crews to do their best, saying: “We can’t give up.”

But anger erupted at a briefing about the rescue mission when a relative of one missing passenger lashed out at a government official.

It emerged today that some trapped and terrified pupils sent desperate text messages to their parents during the sinking. One wrote: “Mum I’m sending you this now because I’m afraid I might not be able to say it later. I love you.”

It was also claimed some passengers lost their lives because of an on-board announcement ordering them “Don’t move” as the ship started to roll.